Best trip for swimming with turtles?

[OttawaCountess]

just back from Barbados swam with the turtles for free on a beautiful natural beach. The turtles are not fed but travel past beach to go to Oistins to eat fish. Saw mothers and babies . The beach is Sandy Beach in Christ Church. There is a beach bar and chairs and umbrellas to rent:D

 

Did you take a taxi from the pier? If so, How far, how much did you pay?

[aimodels]

Sandy Beach is also known as Worthing Beach, which is between Rockley and St. Lawrence Bay.

 

A cab will run you about $15 ($30 BDS), or you can take the bus for $1 ($2 BDS).

 

A cab should take about 10 minutes, maybe less. The bus about 15-20.

 

 

Cheers, P:)

[mimil]

We used Thriller 2 years ago, going again in August, already booked with Stephen and his daughter.

 

Mimi

[PattyG12]

And another vote for Gina and her guys at Calabaza. That has been the most incredible excursion I've done ... EVER. It was amazing!

[girlscruise2011]

And another vote for Gina and her guys at Calabaza. That has been the most incredible excursion I've done ... EVER. It was amazing!

 

I love reading this. They are the only excursion I have booked so far for my cruise in January 2014 because of all the great reviews here. I can't wait to experience it for myself :)

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We are already booked with Calabaza for May of next year. I also have knee/access issues. I am hoping the steps really do extend a way into the water, otherwise I may have to be towed back to shore!:eek:

[ryansmom]

We are already booked with Calabaza for May of next year. I also have knee/access issues. I am hoping the steps really do extend a way into the water, otherwise I may have to be towed back to shore!:eek:

 

Just did this last week. Fabulous day! Here is the back of the cat:

 

 

The ladder to get back on is on the other side.

 

hth

[Ozarkmills]

I booked with Sarah on the Elegance. The pictures on their website looked great, and the reviews on this forum helped seal the deal. They also had a discount advertised, so I took advantage of it. I will report back at the end of September with pictures and a review.

[Family Travel Story]

Does anyone know which company Carnival Cruise line books for their Sea Turtle & Shipwreck Snorkel? It looks like you might get to ride on a speed boat as well as the snorkel, but maybe not, there pictures are of two different boats?

[Tralynn]

We've used Tiami, Cool Runnings, and Silvermoon. All were excellent, but Silvermoon was probably the best in my opinion. The tours were all the same, but the service and food on Silvermoon were just a notch above. You can't go wrong with any of them.

[lanarp09]

We used Tiami and they were amazing - will deff be using them again

[renebfl]

Everyone seems to think their experience was the best. What makes one better than the other? I guess I am asking those who have been on several different boat.

[ryansmom]

I don't think one is better than the other per se, I just think so many have used so many different ones and they are all good....

 

For us, we used Calabaza. Originally a little more than I wanted to spend, but I wanted 5 hours and the other vendor I was considering, wouldn't offer us 5 hours (lack of people?) and would only offer us 3 hours. So, I researched. One appealing thing was they take no more than 12 people on a 47' cat. Spacious and not feeling crowded was important to us.

 

I decided on Calabaza because of the reviews here, on TA and the prompt email communication. They would guarantee we'd go, even if we were the only 3 who signed up for that day. The guarantee sealed it for us.

 

We had a guide IN the water with us at the wreck/reef AND the turtle stop. Not only did he feed the fish/turtles, he took pictures of us. After you return home, not only do they email you pictures from your excursion (download whichever ones you want), Gina will also email you her recipes from lunch.

 

My husband even spotted a burrfish (blowfish family) on the ocean floor and our guide went down and brought it up for all of us to hold. It was pretty far down (I know I couldn't have made it!), so I don't think many could've gone down for a closer look.

 

On the sail, they consistently asked if we wanted a drink. When we boarded, there was coffee and warm banana bread. The food was delicious.

 

Like I mentioned, it was more than I wanted to spend, but I knew it'd be worth it...and it was. We were not disappointed. After lunch, we had some free time to either swim, snorkel or swim over to the beach...which was nice to have uncrowded free time.

 

That was our experience with Calabaza. No doubt others used other companies and had just as good a time. I feel the pictures, recipes, minimal people and the free time in the water after lunch was worth the extra money.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to book them again...IF we ever get there again.

 

Here is a brief video highlighting our day with them:

 

^ It starts at the reef, then there's a lot of footage of the turtles. Toward the end, my husband caught an eel on the ocean floor on the video and then when we had the free time after lunch, he and the guy he was out snorkeling with, found a spiny flounder which is way cool to watch at the end of the video.

Edited August 23, 2013 by ryansmom

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Ryansmom - thank you for the great review of Calabaza. Nine of us in our group are signed up with them for next May. I shared your review with our Roll Call. It would be great to fill up the cat with CC people.:) I am really looking forward to this.

 

I see you were on the Jewel. did you have time for any shopping near the ship after the Calabaza tour?

[ryansmom]

Ryansmom - thank you for the great review of Calabaza. Nine of us in our group are signed up with them for next May. I shared your review with our Roll Call. It would be great to fill up the cat with CC people.:) I am really looking forward to this.

 

I see you were on the Jewel. did you have time for any shopping near the ship after the Calabaza tour?

 

That was my brief review...I haven't had time to do ANY kind of reviews. We start school on Monday, hoping for some time then so I can do more in depth reviews with pictures.

 

We had plenty of time to shop. There were shops outside and then tons more inside! We did wander around because I had 2 things to get. We never felt rushed.

 

Not sure if it was our times in port, but everyday we went out for our excursion, we always had plenty of time to shop or just wander around the port area after our excursion. (Then again, we snorkeled everyday and that's something you usually start early in the day.)

[sheltielover56]

Ryansmom,

 

Thanks so much for posting the video. I am booked with Calabaza next March and so looking forward to it. I am in the market for an underwater camera. Can you tell me what camera and model was used for this video? Thanks.

[ryansmom]

Ryansmom,

 

Thanks so much for posting the video. I am booked with Calabaza next March and so looking forward to it. I am in the market for an underwater camera. Can you tell me what camera and model was used for this video? Thanks.

 

A few years ago, I bought my husband the Kodak Playsport...the first generation one. This is what he used. It's lasted him the last few years pretty well, but now he's looking to upgrade and keep this as a backup. I think he dove down a little too far this year at a stop and he had to 'reset' the battery...something he hasn't had to do. But, after he did, it still worked just as well. At the time, they were coming out with the 2nd generation camera, so this one was only around $100 at the time.

 

He used this camera 3 years, and last year he used it everyday (for 5 days), almost ALL day (we lived on a catamaran for a week and were in the water everyday for practically ALL day).

 

My SIL bought the 2nd generation one (based on our glowing recommendation) and they had nothing but problems with it. Not to mention, the 2nd generation one does not have a removable battery. So, when your battery dies, you have to plug it in to charge. We have spare batteries and just pop in a fresh one.

 

Here's what he has: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030MITDK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p421_d16_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=037TY4D9XS5TVBX5ASW3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

 

Not sure what he'll get next. He was checking into the Go Pro 3s, but they aren't getting that great of reviews :confused:

 

I will be buying the Olympus camera our guide was using. THAT took awesome pictures!

Edited August 23, 2013 by ryansmom

[sheltielover56]

A few years ago, I bought my husband the Kodak Playsport...the first generation one. This is what he used. It's lasted him the last few years pretty well, but now he's looking to upgrade and keep this as a backup. I think he dove down a little too far this year at a stop and he had to 'reset' the battery...something he hasn't had to do. But, after he did, it still worked just as well. At the time, they were coming out with the 2nd generation camera, so this one was only around $100 at the time.

 

He used this camera 3 years, and last year he used it everyday (for 5 days), almost ALL day (we lived on a catamaran for a week and were in the water everyday for practically ALL day).

 

My SIL bought the 2nd generation one (based on our glowing recommendation) and they had nothing but problems with it. Not to mention, the 2nd generation one does not have a removable battery. So, when your battery dies, you have to plug it in to charge. We have spare batteries and just pop in a fresh one.

 

Here's what he has: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030MITDK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p421_d16_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=037TY4D9XS5TVBX5ASW3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

 

Not sure what he'll get next. He was checking into the Go Pro 3s, but they aren't getting that great of reviews :confused:

 

I will be buying the Olympus camera our guide was using. THAT took awesome pictures!

 

Thanks so much for the info. Any idea which model of Olympus camera your guide was using so I can check out the reviews for that one?

[ryansmom]

Thanks so much for the info. Any idea which model of Olympus camera your guide was using so I can check out the reviews for that one?

 

According to the pictures I downloaded, I think it was an Olympus Tough (or Stylus) TG-2 iHS.

[wednesday]

A few years ago, I bought my husband the Kodak Playsport...the first generation one. This is what he used. It's lasted him the last few years pretty well, but now he's looking to upgrade and keep this as a backup. I think he dove down a little too far this year at a stop and he had to 'reset' the battery...something he hasn't had to do. But, after he did, it still worked just as well. At the time, they were coming out with the 2nd generation camera, so this one was only around $100 at the time.

 

He used this camera 3 years, and last year he used it everyday (for 5 days), almost ALL day (we lived on a catamaran for a week and were in the water everyday for practically ALL day).

 

My SIL bought the 2nd generation one (based on our glowing recommendation) and they had nothing but problems with it. Not to mention, the 2nd generation one does not have a removable battery. So, when your battery dies, you have to plug it in to charge. We have spare batteries and just pop in a fresh one.

 

Here's what he has: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030MITDK/ref=s9_simh_gw_p421_d16_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=037TY4D9XS5TVBX5ASW3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

 

Not sure what he'll get next. He was checking into the Go Pro 3s, but they aren't getting that great of reviews :confused:

 

I will be buying the Olympus camera our guide was using. THAT took awesome pictures!

 

We are not with Calabeza but another 12 person max cat through R & R, it appears from your video that a lot of the catamarans stop in the same location and that there are a lot of people in the water. Did it ever feel crowded or like you couldn't easily get a moment with the turtles?

[ryansmom]

Our reef stop was good...not crowded, mostly just us and our guide (and we still had plenty of room to fan out from him).

 

It's the turtle stop that's crowded. Our guide was feeding them so they'd come right near our group, but the other groups were there too. The biggest group was a boat full of, what we guessed were, Brazilians. There was no English being spoken when mixed in with those people. I was SO glad we weren't allowed to have fins on here. I don't think it's so much to protect the turtles as it is to protect the PEOPLE! You get tired of getting kicked every once in a while after a while, so you end up making your way away from the crowds. Kudos to OUR guide, who was still tossing food so the turtles would still come near us as we made our way away from the masses toward our boat :)

 

But yes, all the boats stop at the same place for the turtles. It's just a matter of what time you are getting there and how many other people are on the same time schedule you are.

[wednesday]

Our reef stop was good...not crowded, mostly just us and our guide (and we still had plenty of room to fan out from him).

 

It's the turtle stop that's crowded. Our guide was feeding them so they'd come right near our group, but the other groups were there too. The biggest group was a boat full of, what we guessed were, Brazilians. There was no English being spoken when mixed in with those people. I was SO glad we weren't allowed to have fins on here. I don't think it's so much to protect the turtles as it is to protect the PEOPLE! You get tired of getting kicked every once in a while after a while, so you end up making your way away from the crowds. Kudos to OUR guide, who was still tossing food so the turtles would still come near us as we made our way away from the masses toward our boat :)

 

But yes, all the boats stop at the same place for the turtles. It's just a matter of what time you are getting there and how many other people are on the same time schedule you are.

 

Thanks for the reply, hoping we are able to beat the crowds. It sounds like a ship snorkel excursion we did once and it was unpleasant dodging feet.:(

[ryansmom]

Since our vacation last year spoiled us with snorkeling, I don't think we'll ever do a (crowded) ship excursion ever again (IF we ever get on a ship in the Caribbean again). I booked all independent vendors and my husband was SO glad I did! (He was one of those who would book thru the ship simply because he didn't want to worry about missing the ship. He was glad I convinced him to trust me this past summer :D )

 

The funny thing was, while sitting on Jalousie Beach all day in St. Lucia, we knew exactly which people arriving were with the cruise line. ALL wearing life vests was the first clue :p ....looked like an over-full boat was the 2nd! :eek:

[faroozi]

Two questions, are there trips to swim with the turtles that are only an hour or two? Or is there a beach you can swim with turtles from? Thanks.

[RhondaC]

Two questions, are there trips to swim with the turtles that are only an hour or two? Or is there a beach you can swim with turtles from? Thanks.

 

You can spend the day at Carlisle Beach--check out the Boatyard or Lobster Alive for places on the beach to get chairs/umbrellas. There are people with small boats that will take you out to the turtles to snorkel for about an hour for $20 pp. We'll be doing this next week! :)